Intel announces $1.25 billion green bond issuance

Chip major Intel has announced the pricing of its inaugural green bond issuance, totalling $1.25 billion. The issuance of green bonds, which are fixed-income financial instruments used to finance projects that have positive environmental and climate benefits.

Intel said that it is part of a $6 billion overall public offering, the green bond will support its investments in sustainable operations.

Intel has published its green financing framework, which details the net proceeds of the green bond offering will be used to fund eligible projects in six key areas that support Intel’s sustainability goals, including smart green buildings, energy efficiency, circular economy and waste management, greenhouse gas emissions reductions, water stewardship, and renewable electricity.

“Intel’s first-ever green bond aligns our financing priorities with our commitment to sustainable business practices,” said David Zinsner, Intel’s chief financial officer. He added, “It will help us advance the goals we have undertaken in our RISE 2030 framework, including our commitment to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across global operations by 2040, and enable us to accelerate investment in areas where we can have significant and immediate impact on global environmental issues.”

India has emerged as the sixth largest country in the Asia-Pacific region in terms of total amount of green bonds issued in 2021. Green bonds issuance from India jumped 523% from a year ago to $6.8 billion during the year, showed a Knight Frank report.

According to statistics provided by the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI), APAC issued $126 billion in green bonds in 2021, with China issuing the largest amount, $68 billion, exceeding the combined value of the other nations in the region. India issued $6.11 billion in green bonds during the first 11 months of 2021, according to UK-based green bond tracking agency Climate Bonds Initiative. It was the strongest year since green bonds from the country were first issued in 2015.

“Recent years have witnessed a rapid embrace of ESG measures benchmarking in the APAC region, driven by the pressing need to reduce climate risks,” said Neil Brookes, Head of Global Capital Markets at Knight Frank.

In the past, adopting sustainable methods have shown to strengthen investment portfolios. However, some issuers such as Yes Bank (2015), the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (2017, 2019), the Power Finance Corporation (2017), the Indian Railway Finance Corporation (2017) and Adani Renewable Energy Limited (2019) have issued green bonds with maturities of 10 or more years.